Once again picking up on a story that is rapidly making the rounds on blogs, I picked this quote out from Gregory Wright in G2’s latest article about blogging:
I like the idea of just writing something. If it wasn’t for keeping a blog, my written output would amount to about 10 words a month. I’m sure someone once said something about people writing in the past because they had something to say and people writing nowadays to find out whether or not they’ve got anything to say. There’s probably something in that.
I know that for myself, writing about a subject is a key way to work out what I think on it. Typically, I’ll write out a piece before deciding whether to post it here. Though sometimes laziness takes over and an entry such as this one emerges straight into movabletype.
What I’d query in the quote is the historical claim. Many, many writers have commented on how their work (usually, though not always, fiction) emerges as they write. The writing happens, and they are the conduit. I’d cite Madeleine L’Engle at this point, but my copy of Walking On Water is some miles from here.
But the comment is still an interesting one. Is there an increasing tendency to write in order to see if we have something to say? Or are we just doing that in public more now?